The Sprawl 08.8.09: Volume 30 - UFC 101 Headliners And More...

Posted by Alex Mattis on 08.08.2009

This week an in-depth look at the two headlining fights for UFC 101, as well as a look at one of the good news items to come out of these strange weeks. COME ON IN!

Hello all and welcome back to "The Sprawl!" Well fuck, what a wild couple of weeks we have had in MMA. All the Affliction drama, the UFC welcoming them back, Vitor-Franklin, Tito's back, WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?!? Only one thing is for certain at the end of all this... Josh Barnett is now one of the most hated men in MMA. Well with Affliction Trilogy off I was left without an idea for the week... so I've thought I'll just bump up that UFC 101 column. On this installment of "The Sprawl" I'm going to discuss the co-headlining super-fight of UFC 101: Forrest Griffin Vs. Anderson Silva. Both men bring some interesting dynamics to the table, but despite all the hype I will breakdown why I'm picking Forrest for the upset. The onto the Lightweight title showdown: BJ Penn Vs. Kenny Florian, and if BJ shows up ready this will be more of a massacre then a fight. LET'S GET DOWN TO IT!!!

Dana White's self-proclaimed "Pound-for-pound best fighter in the world" will once again step into the octagon on August 8th to face what is quite possibly the toughest fight of his career. The middleweight champion is once again bouncing up in weight in an attempt to prove that he is one of the absolute best around. Anderson is coming off the heels of two questionable performances that left many fans questioning Anderson's drive and determination. The Cote fight I understood as I though Cote was frustrating Anderson with his patience and ridiculous chin, but in the Leites fight Anderson just seemed bored and unmotivated. I'm pretty sure we could all agree that if Anderson wanted to end that fight at any point, he could have. A win over Forrest Griffin for Silva would not only prove that he still has the desire of a champion but that he truly is one of the world's best and a threat to anyone in the light heavyweight division.

"Cause it's a thriller, thriller night..."

Forrest Griffin has made his career off proving the doubters wrong, and this is his ultimate chance to do that again. Forrest is coming off of the loss of his light heavyweight title to Rashad Evans back in December, and rather than taking a bounce-back fight Griffin had the "fuck it" attitude and said I'll fight Anderson Silva. This is incredibly ballsy or crazy depending on how you look at it. One thing we've learned in the past about Forrest is that the dude rises to the occasion when needed. He was written off in the Tito Ortiz fight, at the end of the night people were saying Forrest was robbed. Almost no one gave him a chance in the Shogun fight, he destroyed Shogun. Very few were picking him in his fight with Rampage but when that fight was over Forrest walked out of the cage with gold around his waist. Can Forrest rise to the occasion again and defeat who many consider the best fighter on the planet? I truly believe he is one great game plan away from accomplishing it.

You'll get the TapOut decal,
you'll get the One More Round t-shirt,
and if you call right now you'll get the exclusive Jacob "Stitch" Duran bobble-head!

Now, one can guess as to what is going to happen on fight night but with a fight with this many intangibles there is no telling who is going to win and how. But, as I have done with Forrest in the past, I am calling Griffin to pull out the upset. We have seen in the past that Forrest Griffin has a hell of a chin and can take a shot, which is going to come in handy because Anderson Silva will look to deliver as many blows as he can. Forrest's stand-up is no slouch, but he is not on the same level as "The Spider." While the fight is standing Forrest needs to use his jab to keep Anderson thinking so he can take the fight to the ground. It doesn't matter how good you are, if you stand in front of Anderson Silva it's only a matter of time before shit gets real. Forrest's key to winning this fight is to take a Randy Couture approach, or the "Dan Henderson Round 1 against Anderson Silva" approach if you will. Forrest needs to use his size advantage over Silva, take him down and mercilessly smother him into a decision. Forrest has the ability to do that, whether he does on not... well time will tell. With all the progression Forrest has gone through, I expect him to be smart enough to be able to handle this fight as he pleases and control Anderson when he wants to. Anderson Silva is an elite fighter, but Forrest Griffin is one of the biggest light heavyweight's around and I expect him to be too much for Silva. My Forrest predictions have been laughed at in the past, but I am sticking with my gut. Forrest by Unanimous Decision.

Now onto the main event for the lightweight championship of the world, BJ Penn Vs. Kenny Florian. BJ Penn-Flo. One man riding an incredible winning-streak and coming in with a world of hype. The other coming off a crushing loss in one of the sport's biggest fights in history, looking to redeem himself. The best way for BJ to show that he is still king of the 155 division is to absolutely destroy the #1 contender to his title, and that is Kenny Florian. It appears as though BJ has been training ridiculously hard for this fight and has put together quite the impressive training team. Names like Antoni Hardonk, Jake Shields, The Diaz Bros, and Hermes Franca have been mentioned as those helping BJ prepare for this fight and if that's the case then a new breed of Penn may be showing up at UFC 101. In recent interviews I've seen "The Prodigy" he has been looking lean and in great shape but well have to see how prepared he will be mentally. We've seen time and time again that after a crushing loss, like Penn suffered to GSP, fighters come back mentally crippled or better than ever. If his training is any indication, BJ will be back better than ever.

Main thing that stands out in this photo... Kenny Florian's smile.

Ken-Flo has built quite the name for himself and will be coming into his 2nd title shot as the UFC's undisputed #1 contender. Since his loss in his lightweight title fight against Sean Sherk Kenny has gone undefeated and has racked up some impressive wins along the way. Big names like Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta, and most recently Joe Stevenson have all been beaten by Ken-Flo. The victory over Stevenson was the most impressive display in Kenny's career. Florian is an outstanding Muay-Thai striker with a phenomenal ground game, and good conditioning to tack on. Kenny is going to need all these skills and more to defeat Penn and become the NEW UFC Lightweight Champion of the World. Kenny needs to take this fight into deep water; he needs to take it to the later rounds, because it is there where his chances of winning the fight skyrocket. While Kenny may have some great tools and may have beaten some good guys the question remains "Is he on BJ's level?"

These happy days are yours and mine HAPPY DAYS!

This fight is going to go one of two ways; quick and brutal or slow and methodical. If the BJ that fought Stevenson and Sherk shows up its going to be bad night for Florian, as good as Kenny is he can't hang with that BJ. When BJ is at his best his jab, right hand, takedowns, and control are just another level than anyone else at 155. Kenny Florian has built quite the reputation around him and is rolling into this fight with some recent wins over some big names so he will be confident come the 8th, but he can't get too confident. Kenny's keys to victory in this one is staying patience, keeping his range and demonstrate his extremely technical striking and try to outpoint BJ. Unfortunately for Kenny, I just don't see a way he can win this fight. I think BJ will batter him on the feet and ultimately get him to the ground and submit him or pound him out. BJ by 2nd round submission.

Lose some, win some
With these past couple weeks of horrible/angering/exciting news in MMA, it's no surprise that a tidbit of interesting news has been overshadowed. In an interesting turn of event the semi-grudge match between Matt Hamill and Brandon Vera, which was set for UFC 102, has been called off due to an injury sustained by Hamill. So filling in for "The Hammer" is none other than the Kimura Kid himself, Krzysztof Soszynski. This fight is very interesting and important for both men. Vera needs a win here to prove that he is a relevant fighter at 205 and not just an over-hyped can-crusher. For K-Sos, this is a chance to prove that his rapid rise is for real and that he is someone that could be a potential contender in the division. I'll have more of a breakdown of the fight in the weeks to come, but the announcement of this fight has already got me pumped. As a fan of "The Truth" and someone who is quickly becoming a K-Sos mark I can't wait to see what happens.

K-Kong ain't got shit on K-Sos

This Week's Top 5
(Here is the brief explanation for the new "wrap-up" part of the column. Obviously I'm a big "High Fidelity" fan but this basically comes from the random part of my brain. Every week I'll have some new topic with my top 5 to list)

My Top 5 Smashing Pumpkins Song's
5 - Zero
4 - The End Is The Beginning Is The End (Batman & Robin music video = AMAZING)
3 - Here Is No Why
2 - 1979
1 - Tonite, Tonite

Well that's all for me this week. Come back next week for more MMA-goodness!

Remember feedback, as always, is welcome at [e-mail] or directly below and don't be afraid to leave your "Top 5" of the week.

Take care,
Alex